Herend dinner sets An overview of the most important and iconic dinnerware of Herend. The Manufactory of Herend offers many different pattern Dinner sets. The following... Continue reading
Herend Victoria - What is the meaning of Queen Victoria VBO?
The abbreviations of the Herend Queen Victoria design family are representing design differences. But what are these differences? We explore the different variations of the Herend design Queen Victoria in this post.
The original Herend Queen Victoria design – The butterfly pattern
Why do we call the product Queen Victoria?
Originally, The Victoria pattern was designed by Fischer Mór, founder and owner of Herend Porcelain Manufactory. The design was introduced in 1851, having roots in the oriental fine china designs. The design was first called Kakiemon to represent the oriental roots of the style.
The decor is covered with detailed stylized butterflies and flowers. The edges are painted with floral elements and green – or other color finishing.
During the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations 1851, at the Crystal Palace Exhibition, the first world fair, Queen Victoria fell in love with the design. She ordered a large Herend porcelain set that the factory of Herend Hungary – those days Herend Austro-Hungary – worked on for two years to produce and ship the dinnerware items fully.
Fischer Mór was so proud and grateful that he decided to rename the design after Her Majesty. From now on, we call the design Queen Victoria “VICTORIA”.
You can see the stamp writes the numbers of the form “xxxxx-x-xx VICTORIA”
Nowadays, we also call the decor Museum Victoria, referring to its mid-19th-century origin.
VBO – Victoria avec Bord en Or
As the design Victoria represents the design patterns of the 1800s, a new, light design was needed. Customers requested a lighter version of the traditional Victoria design.
Victoria Avec Bord en Or was born.
The new design has the following changes: The butterflies and floral elements are slightly smaller. The colors are getting a much lighter, fresher look.
A new element is being introduced, the gilded edge and golden illustrations.
These days the language for international conversation and relations in Europe was French. This is why most designs have a French name, as they were named in the 19th century, before the first world war.
“Victoria avec Bord en Or” stands for Victoria with Gilded Edge.
Multiple Victoria VBO versions have been rising since then.
VBA Victoria Simple with gilded edge
For some Herend customers, VBO needed to be more simplistic. For them, Herend’s master painters designed a simpler, less dense version of VBO.
VBA uses fewer floral elements by number; the plates are more minimalistic. Some painted lines are thinner; the white porcelain dominates the pieces.
However, sometimes it is hard to realize the difference whether we are holding or looking at a VBO or a VBA piece.
» It is advised to check the stamp on the plates what design of Herend product you are looking at.
VA Victoria Simple
The Victoria simple – VA uses the same light design elements as the VBA but has no gilded edges or other golden paint. This can be important for religious reasons or for uses where the gilded lines are not preferred.
WBO – Windsor
Windsor design is named after the castle Windsor, where Queen Victoria used the original Victoria design dinnerware together with Prince Albert (?) The Colors of WBO are the same as the original Victoria design. Dense, heavy dark pastel colors represent the style and art of the late 18th century and early 19th century.
VBO Colored
Victoria avec Gold en Or has been created with multiple color variations. The same is present in the Victoria design as the need for multiple Apponyi – Chinese Bouquet colors – namely 13 colors and a multicolor version. The following colors are available for VBO colored:
- VBOL – VBO Lilac
- VBOJ – VBO Yellow
- VBOH – VBO Orange
- VBOB – VBO Blue
- VBOG – VBO Grey
- VBOP – VBO Purple
- VBOM – VBO Brown
- VBOTQ – VBO Turquoise
- VBOV – VBO Green
Gilded Rose knob as an ornament on top of the teapot.
A new version of VBO appeared in the early 2020s.
- VBO-Y1 Yellow
- VBO-Y2 Pink
- VBO-Y3 Blue
- VBO-Y4 Purple
- VBO-Y5 Oramge
- VBO-Y6 Light Blue
Victoria Monochrome
Victoria VBO is also available in monochrome colors.
All the fine butterflies and flowers of the Herend Queen Victoria design are painted with one color and gold. The available colors are:
- Green – Herend Queen Victoria Green
- Orange – Herend Queen Victoria Orange
- Gray – Herend Queen Victoria Gray
- Blue – Herend Queen Victoria Blue
This was a short introduction to the different options of the Victoria design family. But we should have touched on the question of the brand-new redesign of VBO, the Royal Garden design, and the Victoria Grande design.
Herend Queen Victoria fine china and dinnerware
If you are interested in further Queen Victoria VBO products, follow this link to our online webshop.
Are you interested in Herend Victoria VBO fine china?
Constructing a Herend VBO set, place setting, or tea/coffee set takes work. You can always contact us for help or more information on building your tea, coffee, or dinner set!
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